1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to means for locating and retrieving submerged articles such as fishing rods and reels and more particularly, to float release devices which can be removably attached to non-floating fishing equipment or other articles or enclosed in the handles of fishing rods. A float component of the float release devices releases from a cooperating bracket or retaining means attached to the article or enclosed within a fishing rod handle responsive to water pressure, in one embodiment and by deterioration of a water-soluble pin in another embodiment. In the first embodiment, activation of a pressure-actuating release mechanism due to water pressure as the article sinks releases the float to indicate the location of the submerged article.
Among the most popular outdoor recreational activities is boating and fishing and a great deal of emphasis has been placed on the construction and maintenance of lakes, impoundments, reservoirs, rivers and streams to support these activites. In the United States alone, several thousand lakes and impoundments exist, many of which were created by man to serve not only as a source of water for cities and rural areas but also for recreation. It follows from a consideration of the large number of people involved in boating and fishing activities, that many objects and articles are lost in lakes and impoundments each year. Many of these articles, such as rods and reels, outboard motors, electric trolling motors and other fishing equipment immediately sink when they fall into the water and most are never recovered. The loss of expensive fishing rods and reels is a frequent event, since a rod can easily slip from a fisherman's grasp when the bait or lure is thrown or when the fisherman changes hands to operate the reel. Furthermore, many rod and reel combinations are lost overboard when the bait or lure is thrown into a likely-looking spot and the rod is placed in the boat while the fisherman directs his attention elsewhere, at which time the bait or lure is struck by a fish and the rod and reel pulled overboard. Many rods are also lost while the boat is moving from one fishing place to the next, as tree limbs and brush engage the rods and pull them overboard.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The location and retrieval of underwater objects has captured the attention of many people for many years. A variety of buoys, floats and similar flotation devices attached to anchor cables and employing various release mechanisms for deployment have long been used to locate submerged vessels, including stricken submarines and torpedoed merchant ships during war time. Typical of such mechanisms is the device illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 1,166,651, dated Jan. 4, 1916, to C. E. Beck et al, which device discloses in one embodiment, an enclosed portion or compartment, preferably located in the conning tower of a submarine, which compartment can be detached from the main structure in the event of loss of control of the submarine while the vessel is submerged, to save the crew. In another embodiment a signal buoy is released by application of water pressure, which buoy can be adjusted to operate automatically at any predetermined depth to locate the submarine. U.S. Pat. No. 652,412, dated June 26, 1900, to G. W. Thomas et al, discloses an "Apparatus for Locating and Attaching Raising Means for Sunken Vessels". This device is characterized by multiple buoys fitted with flags and connecting lines wound on reels and placed in receptacles in a vessel, which receptacles further include water inlet means and a mechanical outlet closure, wherein the buoys are automatically released if the vessel is submerged and water enters the outlets. An "Automatic Sunken Water Craft Marker Buoy" is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,225,368, dated Dec. 28, 1965, to B. W. Allen. This device includes a spherically-shaped flotation member retained in attachment to a boat by means of resilient fingers and further including a coil of line having one end secured to the sphere and wound on a reel located in the support base, such that water pressure due to the buoyancy of the sphere releases the sphere from the resilient fingers in the event the vessel is submerged. U.S. Pat. No. 3,419,927, dated Jan. 7, 1969, to H. Stoffer, et al, discloses a "Self-Releasing Marker Buoy" which is characterized by a sphere defined by a pair of hemispheres, one of which hemispheres floats in the water. A cable is disposed within one of the hemispheres and is secured to the other hemisphere and a magnetic coupling joins the two hemispheres. One of the hemispheres is secured by suitable means to a non-floating object and when the non-floating object sinks in the water, the floating hemisphere is released from the non-floating hemisphere by water pressure due to the buoyancy of the floating hemisphere and the object can be located and retrieved by the cable connecting the two hemispheres. It is an object of this invention to provide float release devices which are capable of positively and quickly releasing a float from engagement with a bracket secured to a non-floating object or article when the non-floating article falls in the water and sinks.
Another object of this invention is to provide a soluble pin float-release device which is small, efficient and compact for location in a cavity produced in a fishing rod handle, which device is characterized by a float removably secured in a float lever pivoted to the rod handle, which float is releasible from the rod handle upon deterioration of a water soluble pin which normally retains the free end of the float lever in association with the rod handle.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved, positively-releasing, soluble pin float-release device which is capable of being releasibly confined in the handle of a fishing rod and which operates pursuant to deterioration of the water soluble pin to release a float from the interior of the handle in the event that the fishing rod falls in the water, to locate and retrieve the fishing rod by means of a line connecting the float to the fishing rod handle.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a new and improved, soluble pin float-release device which is characterized by a float lever hinged to a fishing rod handle provided with an internal cavity and a float having a line wound thereon enclosed in the handle cavity and maintained therein by the float lever, with a water-soluble pin securing the free end of the the float lever to the handle, to facilitate release of the float upon deterioration of the soluble pin and location and retrieval of the rod by means of the float and line.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a double pressure-actuated float release device which is characterized by a pair of pressure-actuated release mechanisms provided in a float and engaging a bracket attached to a non-floating object or article, which release mechanisms disengage the bracket responsive to water pressure as the article sinks and the float ascends to the surface in order to mark the location of the submerged article.
Another object of this invention is to provide a pressure-actuated float release device which includes a float containing an air chamber, a thin membrane covering an open end of the air chamber, a quantity of dye located in the air chamber and a pin secured to the membrane and engaging a bracket carrying the float, which bracket is secured to a non-floating article, wherein the float is releasible from the bracket and the dye escapes from the float when the membrane is ruptured responsive to an increase in water pressure as the article is submerged.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a pressure-actuated float release device which is carried in a hollow compartment provided in the handle of a fishing rod and includes a float provided with a length of line wound thereon, which float is releasible from the handle interior upon activation of a pressure-actuated release mechanism to release a lever hinged to the handle and allow the float to bob to the surface and mark the location of the rod.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a float release device which is contained in the handle of a fishing rod and is mounted in close proximity to a float lever hinged to the rod handle, which device further includes a pressure-actuated release mechanism carried by the handle and designed to disengage the free end of the float lever responsive to water pressure when the rod is submerged, in order to release a float carrying a line secured to the rod, and allow the float to ascend to the surface and mark the location of the rod.
Another object of the invention is to provide a pressure-actuated float release device which is characterized by at least one pressure-actuated release mechanism having a float containing a pressure housing, a diaphragm closing an open end of the pressure housing, a removable plug provided in the pressure housing for equalizing pressure inside the pressure housing to atmospheric pressure and a pin attached to the diaphragm for engaging a retaining means attached to a non-floating article or object for releasing the float responsive to water pressure when the object or article is submerged.